The Centre for Foundation Studies (CFS) of Kampar Campus and the Student Development Committee co-organised an online talk session titled “Doing Well by Doing Good through CSR” on 15 July 2020, via Microsoft Teams.

The invited speaker was Faculty of Arts and Social Science (FAS) lecturer Diong Fong Wei. The session was moderated by CFS lecturer Chan Wan Ling.

The talk aimed to focus on the significance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for businesses. Diong began the talk by sharing the definition of CSR, which she summarised as a sense of moral or ethical duty among organisations to respond to the demands of its stakeholders whilst meeting the political, economic and social expectations.

Diong then highlighted the importance of CSR to businesses as it affects all aspects of a company’s operations, including the trust of customers, partnerships with suppliers, relationship with employees, investment opportunities and relationship with non-profit NGOs.

Diong also elaborated on what drives CSR. “Points including growing affluence (the difference in social expectations between the rich and the poor); brands (the importance of a company’s reputation in gaining customers’ trust); ecological sustainability (the criticality of climate crisis); globalisation (the importance adapting to laws and cultural differences in multiple countries); and the free flow of communication (the ubiquity of mass media, where any CSR mistakes done will be brought rapidly to the attention of the worldwide public),” she mentioned.

Towards the end of the talk session, she discussed with the participants about what a university can do about CSR. The proposed suggestions include philanthropic giving, volunteering support, labour and diversity practices, and not to forget environmental conservation.

The fruitful and insightful talk ended with a Q&A session.